


Florida Aces: New Roster

by BornofFlame



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, College AU, F/F, F/M, Hockey AU, Homelessness, I learned way too much about hockey over the past two weeks to get this right, M/M, Next Gen AU, illogicallyinclined, illogicallyinclined's au, please go check out illogicallyinclined's tumblr, they said that I could do a next gen au and I am PUMPED
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25136176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BornofFlame/pseuds/BornofFlame
Summary: It's been ten years since the Florida Aces were the big talk on campus.And once again, they were the underdogs, slowly working their way up in the NCAA, building another dream team up.Everything's about to get a whole lot wilder.ABANDONED ON DECEMBER 6 2020 LMAO
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 6
Kudos: 10





	1. look, it's a timeline infodump for the heathens who don't want to go find Jay's tumblr.

**Author's Note:**

> THIS AU BELONGS TO ILLOGICALLYINCLINED on tumblr, go check Jay out, it's pretty cool, here's her tumblr: https://illogicallyinclined.tumblr.com/
> 
> PolkaDot_BowTie is also currently writing a Florida Aces fic on here, go check it out. their fic is more following the actual timeline and since mine's a next gen, our plots aren't going to connect.
> 
> link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25069069/chapters/60722245
> 
> As Jay expands the au, most my info will probably be disproved, but I like writing fanfiction and I like learning about hockey and so it's a win-win.  
> 

hey hey hey!

So after I got permission to write a Next Gen fanfiction to Jay's Florida Ace's Au, I found the timeline that they have so that ya'll can know when I refernce stuff because I'm not going to do massive lore dumps in the actual work so that the narrative still moves forward and whatnot.

anyway, there's going to be links for everything down below.

timeline for you heathens who don’t know the au, found here:  [ https://illogicallyinclined.tumblr.com/post/619395666915065856/i-spontaneously-decided-to-make-a-more ](https://illogicallyinclined.tumblr.com/post/619395666915065856/i-spontaneously-decided-to-make-a-more)

And then general masterlist from hockey au:  [ https://illogicallyinclined.tumblr.com/post/619565517616922625/illogicallyinclined-hockey-au-masterlist ](https://illogicallyinclined.tumblr.com/post/619565517616922625/illogicallyinclined-hockey-au-masterlist)

I seriously recommend that you go acquaint yourself with everything from at least the first link, but I did go to illogicallyinclined's tumblr and just ripped the words from the literal timeline post for you people who don't like going onto tumblr.

here: 

**Year 1 (2017-2018)**

  * Roman, Remus, Emile, and Remy join the Florida Aces
  * the Aces fanbase grows with the addition of a star player. Roman learns the cost of being said start players when he takes a dirty hit to the chest and ends up with bruised ribs, but he soon learns to adjust to being targeted 



**Year 2 (2018-2019)**

August (Preseason): 

  * Virgil, Patton and D join the team, offering a much-needed linemate for Roman and a solid defensive pair
  * Roman is appointed captain, because he deserves it
  * Remy is appointed as starting goaltender, which he hates



November

  * Weeks 2-3: Logan Crofter is brought onto the team to be the new starting goaltender; his relationship with the team is… rocky, given his initially off-putting and stiff personality; Roman and Coach Thomas especially have their reservations, and these reservations only grow stronger as Logan and Roman start to butt heads
  * Week 4: Roman ends up with a dislocated knee from a dirty hit down low, resultantly being benched for 6 weeks. things initially smoothen out between himself and Logan as Logan softens in the wake of Roman’s injury, but they sour again when the team continues to play well without Roman, leading to some rather unsavory articles being written about his necessity to the team by one of the school newspapers. Roman doesn’t want to be bitter, but he understandably is, unfortunately opting to direct this bitterness at an easy target. Logan does not take this sitting down



December

  * Weeks 1-2: without his brother on the ice, Remus turns his full attention to terrorizing the new goaltender, nearly costing the team a game after unleashing all the stops. Logan tells Remus to knock this shit out or suffer the consequences. Remus, despite all odds, listens, resulting in Logan finally winning over a majority of the team, who were already starting to warm up to him anyway. this does very little to ease things between Logan and Roman. another article is written about Roman, titled “The Fall of Rome.” it’s the final breaking point.
  * Week 3: Logan overhears Coach Thomas venting to Joan about his position on the team after a particularly bad spat with the still-injured Roman during practice earlier that day. Logan handles it as well as you would expect, which is to say that he doesn’t handle it well at all. tensions carry over until winter break, when the players briefly go their separate ways



January

  * Weeks 1-3: Logan is forced to take three weeks off to recover from bruised ribs. he says that he fell off of a ladder while taking Christmas decorations down from the roof of his home in Minnesota during the break, and there is no compelling reason not to believe him. although Roman returns to the ice, the team loses their first game back pretty badly, re-fanning the flames to Roman’s frustration
  * Week 4: Logan recovers. he exchanges some rather vicious words with Roman. Coach Thomas decides that he has had enough, forcing the two to reconcile their differences, fixing the initial problem but introducing a whole new one as both Logan and Roman take Coach Thomas’s threat to heart 



February

  * Week 2: the Prince parents make an appearance. it goes… badly. the Prince twins mutually agree to cut off ties to their parents, though this doesn’t stop their parents from constantly attempting to contact them



End of March/April

  * Despite how much the team jumped up in rankings with the addition of Patton, Virgil, D and Logan, they still fall a couple slots short of playoffs due to the poor win record early on and the sporadic win record throughout January. still, hopes are high for the following year



May-July

  * Roman goes to stay with Virgil over the summer, and Remus goes to stay with D. Logan decides to stay in Florida, initially scoping out his own apartment until Remy gently bullies him into moving into the Remile apartment instead, claiming that he’s lonely without Emile there



**Year 3 (2019-2020)**

August (Preseason)

  * Patton and Virgil are named assistant/alternate captains; D moves into the Prince apartment & Logan and Virgil move in together 



October

  * Emile gets his shoulder separated after an accidental hit-gone-awry, missing a month of play as a result 



November

  * an opposing player has the bright idea of boarding Virgil. Logan ends that man’s entire career. (figuratively speaking, of course)



December/January

  * the team enters and exits the winter break as one of the top-seeded teams in the NCAA
  * Logan opts to stay with Remy until the second semester begins



February

  * Weeks 1-2: Logan gets concussed. the entire team suffers for it. Coach Thomas learns that he is Logan’s emergency contact, and the implications floor him. Logan spends two weeks completely out of it, during which time he tells D about Coach Thomas threatening to kick him off the team – compelling D to start acting out – and he unveils a ton of other red flags regarding his past to a variety of teammates. meanwhile, the team struggles, fracturing further when Patton and Roman have a particularly heated argument in the locker room
  * Week 4: Logan goes to the emergency clinic after forgetting an entire afternoon and is formally diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome (PCS). that following afternoon, he visits his Dean in order to formally request a retroactive withdrawal from the university – certain that he has lost his scholarship – but his Dean convinces him to go talk to Coach Thomas first



March

  * Week 1: Coach Thomas reassures Logan that his scholarship is safe and suggests that he move in over the summer for help recovering from his concussion. Logan has no idea what to do with any of it. 
  * Week 2: Coach Thomas “scratches”/removes D from that weekend’s game (with the approval of Patton and indifference from Roman & Virgil) in hopes that it will help control his behavior. Remy ends up snapping at Virgil for a sloppy play, and it all devolves into a three-way argument between Remy, Virgil, and Jared of all people.
  * Week 3: Virgil and Logan argue, then reconcile. Logan watches the video of himself getting concussed. Virgil learns that Logan’s been hurting himself. everything falls apart, then shakily, it’s taped back together until the weekend, at which point Virgil goes off the rails and suspended for the remaining two games of the season, and then three more games of the following season (coming soon)



**Year 4 (2020-2021)**

August (preseason):

  * the roster updates to its current status



**THIS AU TAKES PLACE TEN YEARS LATER.**

I should probably add that technology and whatnot hasn't really progressed like how sci/fi likes to do it, so it's like current world tech. Obviously I had to call it new roster because everyone from the original team is either retired or coaching or whatever you do after college hockey.

Thomas and Joan are still the coaches and Logan's joined the coaching gang as a sponsor/coach/talent scout/briber to the university. Everyone else from the 'Dream Team' either still plays in the NHL, coaches other teams and whatnot, so nice.

enjoy and now we have a first official chapter coming in like two days, I need to wait for my sister, who's my beta, to read up on the hockey Au before she betas so that I don't have to explain everything to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments? kudos?


	2. phone call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> chapter summaries are for the weak. i'm kidding
> 
> joan, thomas and logan have a conference call about a new person who could possibly fill the second goalie spot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in just under three hours, my younger sister read up on the hockey au and beta'd chapter one for me. (although chapter one isn't that long.)  
> clap for her and her amazingness.

_ Conference call between Thomas Sanders, Joan, and Logan Crofter. _

J: Is this thing on? I hate conference calls with a passion.

LC: I can hear you.

J: Good. So, what's the burning news that Thomas texted me about at nine last night?

TS: So this kid came into the rink yesterday. Like literally a kid.

LC: I’m well aware.

TS: You _know_ that I was addressing Joan.

J: What happened?

TS: She freaking  _ demolished _ Logan.

J: Ooh, tell me more please.

TS: She said that she wanted to try out for the starter season on the Aces and we told her that she’d have to prove herself against Logan. And she was a decent shot, but that’s not what caught our attention.

LC: She’s one hell of a goalie.

J: Now I’m upset that I missed practice. When can I meet her? And why didn’t we pick her up when we were talent scouting?

TS: She’s still in high school. At least according to the records and transcripts that she gave us. Just turned seventeen, at the beginning of August.

LC: It’s relevant to note that her name is Samantha.

J: So, is there any way we can get her on the team or are we just going to have to wait until she graduates?

TS: Technically, if she was taking even one college course, she could join the team.

J: You’re still missing a problem.

TS: What?

J: University won’t allow a girl to join the Aces.

LC: I could probably convince them otherwise.

TS: You are not dropping another million in funding again just to bribe them to grab another teammate.

LC: Virgil said that I could use my money how I wanted to, and I think that having her on the team would be beneficial. And I’m already a team sponsor, so I can bribe the university however much I want. And it wasn’t a million, you’re exaggerating.

J: I’m so fucking excited. Did she chirp at you? Please tell me that she's got a mouth on her.

LC: I plead the fifth.

TS: She did. And she took quite a few hits from Chris and was able to throw down back. It was epic, she’s shorter than Virgil even.

J: Damn, I think I just found a new idol. Sorry Logan.

TS: So, who’s gonna track her down?

J: Not it.

TS: Not it.

LC: Damnit Sanders. I’m taking all the backup I can get. Where’s the high school so I can find her?

TS: I’ll email you the info she gave us.

LC: Thanks. Do you want me to just bring her over after I find her or extend an invite?

TS: I’d like to have her over as soon as possible so that we can iron out the wrinkles, so try to get her to tomorrow’s practice. 

LC: Will do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos?  
> comments?
> 
> note: NCAA rules say that you can have a girl on the team, but it's not very common, just a note for ya'll


	3. for the love of all things holy, we aren't playing football Virgil.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan hates it when it's his turn to go find the newest teammate, but luckily he has Virgil to tag along with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: haha hockey!  
> also me: i can't write today

Logan walked briskly through the high school’s main outdoor commons, one hand holding Virgil’s and the other holding a packet that he had printed out before coming over to find this Samantha.

She had been pretty obscured by the second hand gear when she had absolutely wrecked him in goaltending and all they had to go by was a school photo from a few years back. Hopefully they’d be able to spot her in the crowds of students that frequented the dirty public high school.

“Are you sure that we should be looking for our mysterious goalie without a pass or something?”

“I’m sure she’s around her somewhere. Come on, let’s go in. And we’ll get visitors tags Virgil, we’re not heathens.”

“Someone’s going to notice who you are Logan.” Virgil muttered as they walked inside the school, stopping at the front office temporarily to pick up name tags.

“What are you here for?” The receptionist asked, her voice not betraying that she recognized the duo.

“Talent scouting.” Logan said.

“Hockey team meets in the auditorium during lunch. Go Gators.” Her voice was tired and devoid of any emotion as she relayed the information. 

Virgil shook his head and leaned against the counter. “We don’t think that the girl we’re looking for plays with the high school.”

“You’re talent scouting for someone who doesn’t play. The Aces really are screwed this year.” 

Logan tried to pretend that didn’t hurt as bad as it did, because gosh dammit, he may not play anymore, but he still cared about the Aces. 

“Do you have any Samanthas?” 

“Last name?”

Virgil and Logan glanced at each other before shrugging. “We don’t know.”

“There are forty five people at this school that are named Sam or Samantha. I can’t find them for you. You two are free to wander the halls, just don’t harass anyone.” The secretary paused and then held out a pen and a notebook. “Can I get your signatures? It’s for my son, he’s a big fan.”

Logan sighed and obliged, it wasn’t his fault that the overworked woman wasn’t able to help them, it was pretty clear that whoever this Samantha was, she was trying to hide something.

“I don’t think that we’ll find her.” Virgil admitted to Logan as they exited out into the crowded hall, quite a few students stopping what they were doing to look at the pair, Logan at his towering height of 6’5” and Virgil with his dyed hair, they were easily the most recognizable out of the Aces alumni.

Whispers followed them as Logan stalked down each hall, scanning for someone who would even remotely match the photo that he had.

About a half hour later, they had searched the entire school, swatted off more fangirls than he could count and they still hadn’t found anyone.

“We haven’t found her. This is starting to be counter--” Logan froze mid sentence as a student crashed into him, with her getting flung backward and Logan hardly grunting.

“Who the fuck put a brick wall up in the middle of the hall?” The girl looked up at him through a mess of long brown and pink hair, which had covered her face from the force of the collision. She brushed the mess back with one hand, her eyes widening when she recognized him. 

“OHmygoshI’msosorryIdidn’tmeantocallyouabrickwallMr.Crofter!” Her face turned a deep scarlet as she grabbed her bag from off the ground and stood, holding her hands up defensively. “Pleasedon’tkillme.”

“It’s okay.” Logan looked at the girl’s eyes and paused.

“Samantha?”

“Uh, nope, gotta go!” She turned on her heel and started running down the hallway, leaving Logan to glance at Virgil, who nodded.

“Please wait!” Virgil called out halfheartedly.

She glanced back and they watched as she burst out the door at the end of the hall, heading outside and to what Logan could only guess as off campus.

“We should probably go after her.” Virgil noted calmly.

“She’s younger than both of us, has a head start and is spooked.” Logan said dryly. “And thank god we’re both taller, so I’ll follow from this way and you go around front and try to intercept if I can’t catch up.”

Virgil nodded and took off, and Logan steeled himself before running in the opposite direction, tossing the papers that he was holding into the trash as he opened the doors and ran out, looking for Samantha.

She couldn’t have gotten far, she had on a massive backpack and had already been disoriented from the fall. Logan took a few steps forward and tripped over a backpack, looking down to realize that it was Samantha’s.

_ Why _ was she so desperate to try out if she was going to run when they reached out to her? Logan picked up the backpack and continued to run, rounding the corner of the school building just in time to see Virgil tackle the girl onto the grass, both of them screaming wildly.

“Sorry!” he heard Virgil yelp out as the girl elbowed him in the face.

Logan caught up to them, tossing the backpack down and holding out a hand to help her up.

“Can you please explain why you literally went to the rink, proceeded to basically try out and then booked it when we found you?” Virgil sat up, sounding like his nose was full of cotton. Ooh, that had to hurt, Logan mused.

Samantha stood uncertainly and shrugged. “I honestly didn’t think that you’d take well with me handing you your ass.”

“The Aces are constantly on the search for new talent and we thought that you’d be an excellent addition to the team. You did great Samantha.” Logan said as he shifted his hand to the left, holding it out for Virgil to take.

“It’s just Sam please. And you don’t have to worry about the whole college thing, I’m taking two courses at the university already, so technically I’m eligible to join.”

“That’s one hoop we don’t have to jump through now.” Virgil stood shakily and spat some blood onto the ground. “You have one hell of an elbow.”

“I try.” Sam responded dryly.

“Coach Sanders wants you to come to practice this afternoon, to talk and see if we can get you on the Aces.” Logan nodded.

“Cool, I better get going then, it’s three buses from here to get to the university.” Sam picked her backpack off the ground where Logan had dropped it and slung it on. “See you Mr. Crofter.”

She was gone, crossing the parking lot as Virgil came to stand next to Logan, still holding at his nose as he squinted up at his boyfriend.

“I think she broke my nose.” He sniffed. Logan laughed softly and shook his head, eyes flashing with amusement.

“Didn’t you say that you always wanted a broken nose?”

“Not from a girl that I tackled, while recruiting. It’s mortifying.” Virgil took his hand away from his nose and Logan took a look.

“It’s crooked,” he confirmed.

“Shit.” Virgil hissed out.

“Come on, let’s go back. You can tell Coach Sanders about your misadventure before Sam arrives.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, technically in the hockey au, virgil's broken his nose before, but I like to think that Sam broke it worse, so now it's gonna heal crooked.  
> also, she never actually apologizes for breaking it.


	4. Chirp.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which we learn a bit more about our new player.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is gonna be the last update for awhile, I have a bunch of admissions tests that I need to take and a few online courses that have finals this week, but I promise that even though I'm juggling like three fics right now, it'll get updated.  
> eventually.

Sam swung her legs nervously, before tucking her knees to her chest as she waited outside the coaches’ office.

“I really got in over my head this time.” she muttered as she slipped her phone out of her pocket, opening her photo app and scrolling through until she found the one that she was looking for.

It was a photo of a seven year old and a ten year old, both smiling widely as they pointed to a goalie on the rink.

“Samantha Henderson?” Thomas stuck his head out the door and grinned at her. “Come on in, we’re ready for ya.”

She entered the office and sat down in the only chair left, staring at the four people who were in front of her.

There was Virgil, who was holding an ice pack to his nose, head tilted back to reduce the swelling and he winked at her from his awkward position.

Logan was towering behind Virgil and unsurprisingly, his face was completely devoid of emotion. He had one hand on Virgil’s head protectively and Sam felt a twinge of guilt over the fact that she’d probably broken his nose.

She’d met Thomas, if you counted her basically breaking in and asking if he’d humor her with a tryout even though the Aces hadn’t had a formal tryout in years. He was sitting in the only chair that looked like it hadn’t been brought in for this specific conversation.

The only person she had yet to meet was Joan. They smiled at her warmly and Sam decided that all the chaotic stories that she had heard about them probably weren’t true.

Probably.

“So.” Thomas looked down and then back up. “We want you to join the Aces.”

“Cool.” Sam nodded. “That required four of you to come in and talk about it with me?”

There were some uneasy glances shared.

“You might not be able to join.” Thomas admitted.

“Cause I’m a girl.”

“Yeah. But Logan’s working with the Dean and the Head of sports and we’re going to do everything in our power to try to get you on, because Sam, you are one of the best goalies I’ve ever met.”

“Besides Logan.” Joan interrupted.

“She gave me a run for my money.” Logan grumbled under his breath.

Sam could feel herself blushing and she shook her head nervously. “I don’t think that I should join if you have to bribe the university to accept me.”

“We shouldn’t, but unfortunately, here we are. And until the Dean cracks under Logan’s pressure, you won’t be able to play in game, but you can practice with the team.” Thomas shuffled some papers and handed them to her. “You do have to sign these and get a parent/guardian to sign them, since you’re a minor still, but once they’re signed, you’ll be good to go!”

“Thanks.” Sam folded the papers and slid them into her backpack. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow?”

“I’ll walk you out.” Joan opened the door for her and Sam said bye to the rest of the group, wincing slightly when she shook Virgil’s cold hand.

As she wandered down the hall with Joan, they sidled a look at her.

“So, you chewed Crofter out.”

“I chirped at him, there’s a difference.” Sam nodded and grinned. “It was epic.”

Joan nodded. “Did you ever see the footage of that time Logan beat someone because they boarded Virgil?”

“Once, but my teacher confiscated my phone because I was watching it during chem. Why?”

“You have the same chaotic energy as Logan.” they grinned widely at her and she shook her head.

“I am  _ not  _ chaotic.” Sam argued.

“It’s simmering under there. Every hockey player has it in them. Can I ask you why you joined hockey?”

“I’ve liked it since I saw the Aces play when I was seven. Joining you guys is all I’ve ever worked for.” 

They reached the doors to exit and Sam gave Joan a two fingered salute. 

“Thanks Coach.” she said it shyly, almost not believing that she had finally made it on the team, she was (un)officially an Ace.

Three buses and one stop at the local YMCA to deposit her backpack in an overnight locker, she had finally made it home.

AKA, under a nondescript bridge in a quiet part of the city.

Homelessness really was a bitch. Sam slid down the grassy embankment on a piece of cardboard that she dragged up every morning, ducking under the bridge to where a tent and makeshift fire pit had been dug out. A broken T.V. and a used tire had been dragged in to create a table and chair and as she sat at her tire seat, she pulled out the release forms from her overnight bag.

“Parent signature, what a joke.” Sam muttered as she floundered for a pen, signing her name messily. A moment later, a forged version of her mother’s name was on the parent signature line and Sam was stumbling off to her tent to curl up in a nest of ratty blankets and a sleeping bag that did absolutely nothing to keep out the cool air.

Florida mornings  _ slapped. _

She sat up and pulled her hair into a low ponytail, rubbing at the circles under her eyes as she popped open a can of tomato soup and ate, while simultaneously working on the last bit of her homework before packing up her overnight bag to stow at it’s home locker in the YMCA.

Who cared if Samantha Henderson was homeless? Not her. 

Well, it stung a bit not having an actual home, but if nobody knew, then there wasn’t anybody to care. Flawed logic, but at this point she was grasping at straws to avoid going into a foster care situation.

She scrambled up the embankment, one shoe catching a rock that was hidden by the grass, the sole ripping off for good measure.

_ Wonderful _ , another expense to add on top of the fact that she was going to have to buy a new stick soon, because there was no way hers could last another taping.

For some reason, the way that buses ran here were weird, even by Florida definitions and it took Sam five switches to get to school, and even then she was still a bit late.

The thing about being homeless is that it’s hard to get a safe place to hide your belongings or to get clean, which is why Sam had opted to have a Physical Education class at the start of the day and she’d mastered the three minute shower.

It wasn’t ideal and she was used to smelling like chlorine, but when was anything fair?

She stapled her shoe shut during lunch, using one of the industrial staplers from the Woodshop class. It would have been better to use one of the sewing machines, but she’d already been in there twice this week for other clothing fixes and had hit her ‘red alert’ max.

After school was going to be better though.

She  _ was _ an Ace after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos?  
> comments?


	5. the art of choosing a number

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> coach thomas really thinks that things are looking up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally, an angst free chapter  
> I just realized that most of these chapters are angst free, but I'm working on like four different wips and they're all angsty.

_ Private text thread between Thomas Sanders and Joan. _

Jooooannn: She’s oddly shut off.

Thomas: hmmm

Jooooannn: Reminds me of when Logan first joined.

Thomas: She hasn’t really met anyone yet, so that’s a factor. 

Thomas: Not to mention she’s the only female on the team.

Jooooannn: maybe have a team meeting and introduce everyone? 

Thomas: Sounds like a plan.

~

“Alright guys, gather round! Chris, that means you too!” Thomas called over the team, his team, as they gathered around him gear crashing together.

“We have a new Ace!”

“IS SHE ACTUALLY ACE?” One of the boys in the back yelled as he flashed a gap toothed grin at Thomas.

Thomas turned to look at Sam, who was in a bunch of second hand hockey equipment. “Are you?”

“Uh, no.”

“At least we still have Remy 2.0.” The boy in the back said.

“IT’S SPELT DIFFERENT!” the Remy 2.0 protested as everyone ignored him.

“ _ Anyway _ , there in the back, #28 is Chris, he’s the one that you tried out against, he’s our line one right wing, next to him, that’s Remi, with an i, he hates it when we call him Remy 2.0, even though he’s also the starter goalie.”

“I hate it because I’m my own person,  _ Dad _ .” Remi stuck his tongue out at Coach Thomas, which coaxed a few laughs from the others.

“Moving on, next to Remy 2.0, is Brayden and they’re part of the defenseman pair one.”

Brayden waved their hockey stick at Sam cheerfully as Thomas moved on, slowly introducing each member as they called out random tidbits, whether it was about themselves or someone else on the team.

“Last but not least is the very first female Ace, Samantha Henderson.”

Out of all the reactions that Thomas was expecting, he was glad that, although mixed with shock and surprise from the few who hadn’t caught wind, the reception was positive.

He clapped his hands to stop the commotion. “We’re gonna run through a few team exercises for another hour and then we’ll let you guys go early since I know that you all have the start of uni classes tomorrow.”

A cheer went up and Thomas couldn’t help but laugh softly as he started to divide them into pairs.

“Brayden, go with Sam, Remy 2.0, you’re with Chris…” 

He watched as his team separated themselves as he directed and then Thomas left the coaching to Joan while he walked back a bit so he could observe from afar.

Thomas was amazed with how quickly the boys accepted Sam into their ranks. Within five minutes, the team was moving across the ice, albeit a bit roughly, about half the team were first year Aces, but for the first time in a long time, Thomas had a good feeling about this group.

Once Joan had dismissed the team, roughly forty five minutes later, Thomas worked his way back down to the main level.

“Brayden, Remy 2.0 and Sam, can you three come back to my office before you go, we need to discuss what number you get.”

He got mumbled nods of agreement and so he went back to his office so that he could finish filing some paperwork.

Ah, the joys of being a coach that was breaking university tradition with basically every breath.

He was so engrossed with his work that he didn’t hear Brayden or Remi knocking at first.

“Coach?”  
“Coach Thomas?”

“Dad?”

“I don’t think he can hear us.”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve heard Brayden.”

“Shut it Sam.”

“Thbbbbbbbbbt.”

“You two are just like my younger siblings. Just open the door, he doesn’t mind when we crash in, as long as we don’t have snowballs again.”

The door creaked open and Thomas finally looked up as the trio entered, still bickering quietly until they realized that he was watching them argue.

“Hey Coach.” Remi said sheepishly.

“Hey pals. Just called you here to ask you what numbers you want on your jerseys. You can’t have a number that’s already taken.”

“Duh.”

“ _ Remi. _ Anyway, #30 is retired, #69 is off limits because we don’t want to get penalized for inappropriateness, but basically any other number is available.”

“I want #666.” Brayden said confidently, their eyes flashing as Thomas sighed and shook his head.

“No numbers above two digits.”

While Brayden stood there stumped, Sam spoke up.

“Is #15 taken?” She asked.

“No. It’s yours now!”

“I want 20. If you’re all gonna call me Remy 2.0, I want to have the slightest semblance of control over the joke.” Remi sighed as if it was his curse now and Thomas smiled.

“Fair enough. Brayden? You have an idea of what you want?”

“57? Like after how many varieties of ketchup there are.”

“If that’s what you want, the number’s yours.”

“Sweet, thanks Coach.” 

“Great, get out of here, classes start tomorrow and I want some peace before this university is overrun.” Thomas grinned and waved for them to go out and they compiled, leaving the office empty once more.

He’d been working on ordering a few more jerseys as Joan slipped in, a massive grin on their face as they entered and threw themselves across the small couch that had been the office for as long as Thomas had been a coach.

“I’m marking today under unqualified success.”

“Why?”

“Logan managed to bribe the head of sports and he goes to the dean in two weeks to convince him to let Sam play.”

“Nice work. I didn’t think that you had it in you to get a meeting set up so soon.”

Joan scoffed. “We always need a good goalie and I wasn’t gonna let some bigotry get in my fucking way.”

“In that case Joan, you’re well on your way to becoming president.”

“First NB president. Has a nice ring to it.” Joan waved their hands above them as if a neon sign read the words. “I’d rather keep my current job.”

Logan walked in as Joan said it, glancing curiously at the precarious position that the other coach was in.

“Anyone in the mood for Pad Thai? Virgil said that he’d pay.”

“Sure.”

“If I don’t have to pay, I’ll accept any food, you know that. Pass me that stress ball please.”

Thomas took the stress ball off his desk and tossed it at Joan, who flailed to catch it and instead fell off the couch and landed on the cold concrete.

“Darn.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> le comment pls?  
> a kudo?
> 
> brayden's nb, idk if ya'll picked that up. they haven't really had a chance to think about a name change, but they're okay with their current one.


	6. Crushes and Paintball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brayden's honestly never had a crush  
> and then Sam decided to exist and now their world has been flipped upside down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi
> 
> remi's a freaking jerk sometimes, but he likes dragging brayden around.

Brayden knew that they were screwed.

The second that Sam had walked into the stadium, a confident smirk on her face, they’d felt the panic rise up because they had never felt this way.

And then she  _ actually _ knew how to play.

Remi knew all about Brayden’s fascination with Sam, in fact, he actively teased them about it, but that’s what roommates were for.

“Brayden! Snap out of it before I toss a puck from our shared fridge down your back!” 

“Snap out of what?!?” Brayden’s head shot up, confusion flashing across their features.

“You’ve been staring at that Subway sandwich for the past ten minutes, please finish eating before going back to gloating over your scrimmage win.” Remi flicked a potato chip at them and Brayden sighed.

“How would you go and ask someone out?”

Remi tilted his head to the left and laughed. “I don’t.”

“I hate you so much sometimes.”

“You say that a lot, and yet you still live in my house and eat my food and take up the most space on the couch--”

Brayden flung the rest of their sandwich at Remi, who yelped as lettuce rained onto him. 

“Just ask them if they wanna hang out, shoot I don’t know! Maybe invite a few of the team members, it’s someone on the team you wanna ask out, right?” 

“Yeah, but I want to get to know them before I date them, right?” Brayden stole one of their friend’s chips as Remi glared at the table.

“We haven’t really had time to bond as a team yet, I’d wait until after our first game to lay down any moves.”

“Why until after?”

“It’s an away game, so we get to  _ bond _ the whole time.” Remi shook his head as Brayden held back a laugh from the look of disgust on their friend’s face.

“Why are you so against busing to a game? It’s only like seven hours driving to our first one.”

“Exactly. It’s seven hours on a bus with a bunch of teenagers, or basically teenagers. We’re so ruined, I’ll never get any sleep that way.”

“Well, at least you have a whole month to wallow before the season starts.” Brayden pointed out as they stood, bundling up their garbage to throw away.

“See you at practice?” They asked as Remi shrugged.

“It’s a team bonder, check your email for details.” 

“Okayyyy.”

Team bonding was the best. They all met at a predetermined location that Joan or Virgil picked out and then they absolutely just goofed off for like four hours before heading home.

They walked across campus, heading to their last class of the day as other students moved around, all acting like small parts of a big machine.

Brayden’s phone buzzed and they pulled it out, surprised that it wasn’t the team group chat for once.

It’s Sam and a bubble of happiness blooms in their stomach as they open their phone.

Sam: I didn’t get the team building email.

Sam: Do you know where I need to bus out to?

Brayden: i can give you a ride

Sam: Nah, I’m good, thanks though. 

Brayden: It’s at the paintball maze.

Brayden: i don’t think the buses go out there.

Sam: oh

Sam: well shoot.

Brayden: I can still give you a ride.

Sam: where do you want to meet up?

Brayden: student parking lot c

Sam: thx. c u then.

They pumped their fist excitedly once they were sure that the conversation was over. 

Now all Brayden had to do was not ruin it when they gave her a ride to the paintball maze. That would be easy enough, they had already spent time with other people that they’d liked before and hadn’t ruined it.

Something about this felt different though.

Once their last lecture for the day was over, they rushed to the parking lot, surprised to see that Sam was already there, reading a book while somehow balancing on one leg.

“Hiya Sam!”

Her head shot up to look at them and she quickly put the book away before waving at them uncertainly.

“Hey Brayden.”

“It’s good to know that you can balance, because my moped has never hosted two people before!”

“What?”

“I was just complimenting your balance skills.” They said, blushing.

“No, what’s a moped?”

Oh!

_ Oh. _

Brayden realized the implications of her not knowing what a moped was and they shook their head.

“Do you like biking?”

“I’ve never owned a bike.”

“Oh, you’re gonna love this, come on.” Brayden grabbed her free hand and pulled her towards the bike rack, feeling slightly pleased with themself when Sam didn’t pull her hand out of theirs.

“Moped! It’s like a starter motorcycle.” Brayden unlocked the moped and pulled out their helmet, handing it to Sam.

“We have to stop by my apartment so I can get my other helmet, but you can use this one until we get there.” 

Sam stuffed the helmet on and looked up at them. “Okay, where do I sit?”

Brayden got on first and patted the seat behind them. “Just sit behind me, there’s some nifty foot rests and if you’re uncomfy with grabbing my waist to hold on, there’s some handholds in the seat.”

Sam clambered on behind them, the heavy weight of her backpack throwing them both slightly to the left as she wrapped her arms around their waist.

“Ready?”

“My eyes are closed, if that’s what you’re asking.” Sam responded as they started the moped and backed out of the bike racks.

It was a quick ride to the student housing and once they were stopped, Brayden turned their head to look at Sam.

Her eyes were closed tight and her grip from around their waist loosened slightly once they announced that they had arrived at the first stop.

“Thank god, I thought that we were gonna crash.”

“Do you really think my driving skills are that bad?” Brayden teased as they both got off.

“No, I just didn’t want you to crack your thick skull open if someone hit us. Where’s that extra helmet?”

Five minutes, one helmet and one ditching of a backpack in Brayden’s room later, Sam’s arms were comfortably wrapped around them again and the moped was winding its way through the city.

The paintball maze was on the outskirts of the city, just past the signs advertising the university. Brayden cruised into the parking lot, waving at the group as they parked in the motorcycle parking.

“Look who decided to finally show up!” Chris threw a paintball bullet at them and Brayden fully expected it to bounce off of them, when suddenly, a hand was out in front, catching the paintball pellet and throwing it back at Chris.

“They were giving the goalie a ride Chris, lay off.” Sam said cooly as she joined the group, taking off the helmet that she’d borrowed. “Thanks Brayden.” 

Brayden exhaled, trying hard not to fangirl at the fact that she’d caught a paintball before it could hit them and that  _ she’d thrown it back. _

Before anyone else could dissolve into arguing, Virgil pushed to the front. A few people started clapping.

“Don’t clap. Sorry guys, but Coach Joan wasn’t able to make it today, so you’re all stuck with me dividing you into teams.”

“Thanks Coach Virgil.”

“Don’t call me that Payton. Moving on, whichever team wins gets to choose the other teams warm up at practice tomorrow.”

There were a few cheers and then Virgil split the group in half, being absolutely ruthless as he parted those who looked closest to each other.

“Go get dressed in the paintball stuff and there’s going to be a worker that’ll drop you off in the maze.”

“Are you not playing Coach?”  
“I swear if you call me that one more time Payton, I will cut you.” Virgil threatened as everyone separated accordingly.

Brayden was surprised to see that their group had Remi and Chris, along with a few others that they didn’t know the names of, but they were nice enough as they got dressed in the white jumpsuits and paintball armor.

A surly employee explained the rules and dumped them into the maze, pointing out a few locations where they could find better paintball guns before exiting to leave them all alone.

“What’s the plan?” Remi asked as he twirled his paintball gun lazily.

“Take out the people with the fastest reflexes first, which means the goalies, and then the defensemen. Then we take out anyone else. Don’t get shot.” Chris explained it like it was the simplest plan in the world, but Brayden wasn’t so sure if it’d actually work.

There was the sound of an airhorn and a few screams as the sound of paintballs filled the air.

Brayden lasted ten minutes before a paintball hit them squarely in the back. They whipped around to see Sam’s triumphant look before someone pegged her.

“Gotcha Henderson!”

“Yeah, but I got your teammate before you got me so we’re still tied!” Sam crowed as she snapped up her visor and stuck her tongue out at the person that Brayden had yet to identify.

“Get out of the maze and drop your weapon if you’ve been tagged.” The voice repeated itself from the intercom system as Brayden and Sam dropped their weapons and walked to where an exit was clearly marked.

“Nice aim.”

“It was a lucky shot, I missed you like four times, I’m surprised that you didn’t hear me.”

“I can act pretty deaf sometimes.” Brayden admitted cheerfully.

“Hmmm.” She sat down on one of the benches, and they joined her, knee bouncing as the game continued on, waiting.

“Who do you think will win?”

“Your team, you have the majority of the first line and about half the second, not to mention Remi. Just don’t make the warmup skating backwards, I hate skating backwards.” 

“I can’t promise anything.”

Sam groaned and flopped against them dramatically. “I knew that you’d say that.”

The paintball game lasted an hour, with Brayden’s team barely winning out the others.

“See you all tomorrow. Don’t kill each other on the way out.”

Virgil gave great pep talks, now didn’t he? Brayden thought as they walked out of the paintball maze, glad to be out of the white jumpsuits.

“Brayden, wait up!”

Sam ran up next to them and Brayden had to pause and realize how short she actually was.

“How tall are you?”

“5’6, why do you ask?”

“If I put you on my shoulders, we’d be almost twelve feet tall.”

“Impressive. Can we go back to your place so I can get my bag?”

“Oh yeah, course.”

On the way back, Brayden took the liberty of going a slightly different route, even though it added an additional ten minutes to the journey.

Once she’d gotten her bag, she thanked him and started walking off.

“Sam!”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want a ride home? I know that you take the bus everywhere and that can’t be safe.”

“I’ll be fine Brayden.” She gave them a nervous smile, which only made them more anxious as to letting their teammate walk off alone in the fading afternoon. But it was wrong to force yourself to help someone who didn’t want it, right?

“Guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow. Oh, and thank you for the ride.” Sam waved as she walked away and it took a lot out of Brayden not to yell with happiness as she turned out of sight.

Remi was gonna tease them so badly when they got back inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos?  
> comments?


	7. Thomas, you're a full grown adult and you're still making bets. (stahp)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coach Thomas picking up those red flags my pal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy

Thomas felt like he spent too much time at his desk.

Currently, Chris and Brayden had stayed late and the pair was trying to shoot out Sam while she blocked them, while he was cramped in his office filling out paperwork so that they could rent a bus for the game next week.

The group had worked up to almost five pucks before Thomas walked in and told them to all go home.

He hadn’t noticed that the rest of the team was in the stands watching the shootout.

“Coach, please, we’ll go home once Sam misses.” One of the tallest players on the team, ironically also named Sam, begged him and Thomas held back a laugh as he joined the team.

“So what’s the betting price at right now?”

Crickets. Thomas sighed. “A bunch of college age kids not betting? Impossible.”

“Highest bet is ten pucks at once and lowest was three, which was broken about five minutes ago. Minimum price is five dollars and you have to pay the person whose number it lands on.” 

“Alright, I bet twenty dollars that she’ll make it to seven.”

There was cursing on the ice and the sound of a stick hitting five pucks at once.

“It’d probably be easier if you lined them up and then hit them really fast instead of trying to hit them all at once.” Sam called out cheekily as she threw the five pucks back at the two.

“Rude.” Brayden skated back a bit as Chris added another puck to the group. They took aim and shot, pucks flying wildly as only one puttered weakly to rest just outside the net.

“Can we get some more people on the ice?” Chris called out and half the team stumbled out in shoes with hockey sticks, slipping around horribly.

Thomas watched idly as Sam got up to nine pucks before one finally escaped her grasp.

“Pay up bitches!” The line three center Evan held out his hands eagerly, and Thomas pulled a twenty out of his wallet as others handed over various amounts of cash.

Sam, Chris and Brayden skated to the edge of the ice and took off their helmets before climbing over the barrier to join those who hadn’t attempted to shoot out the new goalie.

“Evan, you promised me fifty dollars if I made it to nine on purpose.” 

Thomas laughed in shock and surprise as Sam took off her gloves and held out her hand for payment.

There were a few shouts of unbelief and again, to Thomas’s surprise, Evan sighed and handed some of his cash to her.

“Ya’ll got siked.” Sam teased as she took off her helmet and for a moment, all conversation stopped.

“What happened?” Thomas pushed to the front of the group and paused. “Who punched you hard enough to leave a black eye?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t have to lie to us, we’re your team.”

“No, like, I  _ literally _ don’t know. It was dark and they had a gun.” Sam shrugged and tried to move past Thomas, but the team moved as one unit, all in the mindset to protect one of their own.

It’s times like these when Thomas loves the Aces. But now is not the time for them to completely go into instant family mode.

Sam however, looked panicked as she backed up from the group, mumbling something about muggers and how Florida wasn’t always the safest place to live in.

Thomas looked back at the Aces, and they had a silent conversation, before the group turned and left.

He held out a comforting hand to #15. “Cookies in my office? Patton sent some in an overnight package.”

“okay, but I need to get changed first.” her voice sounded small and Thomas nodded.

They spilt and Thomas wandered back to his office to wait. He only had to wait ten minutes before Sam came walking in, ditching her backpack by the door and flopping onto the couch like so many students had done before.

“Is everything okay at home?”

Sam stiffened at his question and Thomas held up a hand. “I’m only asking because you’re a minor. If you don’t feel safe there, I can help.”

“Nothing’s wrong with my home life, I’m not lying when I say I got my black eye from a mugger. He stole my hoodie.” She gestured at the fact that she was only wearing a long sleeved shirt and Thomas pulled open a drawer in his desk and tossed Sam a sweatshirt.

“Who’s is this?”

“It was Logan’s at one point and then I think Roman stole it for a week before Patton got it and then Roman stole it back before leaving it here for a few months and then Logan found it again… It’s had many owners.”

“And you’re just giving me it?” Sam asked dubiously as she inspected the number 30 on the back before slipping on the sweatshirt.

“You did say that yours was stolen and I’m sure whoever owned it has an extra.” Thomas held out a tupperware and shook it. “Cookie?”

She sat up long enough to steal a few cookies from the tupperware before flopping back on the couch. “Thanks Dad Coach.”

“Do you want to talk about what happened?”

“I was riding the bus home, as you do, and it was my second bus transfer and so I was tired you know? Not really paying attention to the others and so when I got off, they followed me. I was almost home when I felt a gun on the back of my neck and wouldn’t you know, suddenly I’m forced to give up my last twenty and my sweatshirt. He gave me the black eye so that I wouldn’t follow.”

“That sounds really bad, are you okay?”

Sam took a bite out of her cookie and nodded, which unnerved Thomas more than he cared to admit.

“Well, you can rest here until I need to lock up this place and then if you need a ride home, I can give you one.” Thomas turned back to his work, subtly keeping one eye on Sam.

“I won’t need a ride home, I can walk if the buses aren’t in transit anymore.”

“If you’re worried that one of us is going to rob you, I can assure you that’s not the case.”

“One of us?”

“Brayden was quite concerned when you said no after he offered you a ride home.”

“Oh, it’s nothing to do with you guys, I just don’t like it when people know where I live.”

Another red flag. Thomas shot another concerned glance at the goalie, who seemed blissfully unaware that he was now watching for any other warning signs.

About ten minutes passed before she excused herself and the office was left empty.

Less than a minute later the door opened and Remi, Brayden, Chris and Evan filed in, looking sheepish at the fact that they had in fact, stayed back even later.

“Hello Barbershop quartet.”

“We’re too much like the No Brain Cell group. And none of us can sing.” Chris said cheerfully as Brayden shot a look at him.

“Speak for yourself.” They grumbled, which brought a small smile to Thomas’s face.

“How is she?” Chris subconsciously reached out for Evan’s hand and Thomas noted that in the back of his mind that he’d have to update his who’s dating who roster and collect twenty dollars from Joan.

“Fine, but I’m worried, which means that you guys don’t have to.” 

“You said fine and then you  _ immediately  _ contradicted yourself by saying that you were worried.” Remi pointed an accusing finger at Thomas, who sighed.

“I thought it was my turn for the braincell Remi.” Brayden whined as they scuffed their shoe against the concrete.

“You had it this morning when you stopped me from making toast in the shower.”

“You were making toast in the shower?” Evan shot a dubious glance at his friend, who shrugged.

“Attempting to, Brayden barged in before I could get in.”

“How did you think that was a good idea?” 

“It wasn’t my turn with the braincell.” Remi said, as if it explained everything.

“I want you guys, and non-binary pals to promise me that you won’t go after her. I know that it’s going to be hard, it’s pretty obvious that something’s not right, but until she trusts us enough to open up, we can’t interfere.” Thomas stared down each Ace in turn. “If you don’t I’m suspending you at least three games.”

“You wouldn’t.” Remi sputtered indignantly.

“ _ How dare. _ ” Brayden flung a hand to their chest and Thomas was briefly reminded of when Roman did something similar when faced with the threat of suspension.

“Coach…” Evan didn’t sound defeated at this point, he just sounded like a college student who had given up at the ripe age of twenty one and a half.

“Dude, I’m straight up not having a good time anymore and I’m gay.” Chris said and the room went dead silent as the words sunk in.

“ _ Chris. _ ” Thomas choked back a laugh and shook his head. “Guys, I need you to promise me that you won’t pry.”

Once he’d gotten four confirmations, Thomas shooed out the Barbershop quartet.

He didn’t realize that they were about to go break their promises and then some.

Thomas dialed a number on his cell phone and pressed it to his ear.

“Hey Roman?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos?  
> comments?


End file.
